TAMPA, Fla. — On Thursday the FDA will host a meeting to determine whether or not it will give emergency use authorization to Pfizer for its coronavirus vaccine.
Health experts expect this panel to authorize the vaccine by the end of tomorrow, which means shipments could go out as soon as Friday
The panel of outside experts will give their opinion on whether the vaccine should be authorized, looking at its safety and effectiveness. After, the committee will vote on its approval.
And local experts like USF Health virologist Dr. Michael Teng believe it will be approved.
As soon as the vaccine is approved, doses will be on the move.
“So my understanding is that Pfizer has pre-positioned a bunch of their vaccines, they are ready to deliver the vaccines as soon as they approve," Dr. Teng said.
People could be getting their first shot by Monday.
In Florida, the first to receive the vaccine will be residents and staff in long term care facilities, frontline healthcare workers, and residents over the age of 65 who are high risk.
The Pfizer vaccine requires two rounds of shots, and it is essential that the second dose is administered three weeks after the first.
“There's some immunity after the first dose, but it's not that great," explained Teng. "And then you really need that second dose to get to that 95 percent efficacy that they show after their two-dose regimen.”
Even after you get the vaccine, you still need to stay safe. Because the vaccine is 95 percent effective, Dr. Teng says that about 5 percent of people who get the vaccine, will not be fully immune to the virus.
“You know, so what the idea is that you, you don't want to be that 5% and find out the hard way," said Dr. Teng. He highly recommends getting the vaccine if it’s available to you.
"Really, this is so much better than getting infected. And we have such high prevalence in the community that it's going to happen. You're going to get infected by the virus, it's not going to go away without everybody or a large, large proportion of our population becoming immune.”
Dr. Teng does not anticipate that pregnant women nor children will be cleared to get the vaccine as neither group was studied during the trials.
The Pfizer vaccine has already been distributed in the UK and residents are getting vaccinated. Health experts are currently looking into a possible allergic reaction from two healthcare workers who got the Pfizer vaccine yesterday.
It is unclear exactly what side effects the two had, but those two staffers do have a history of allergic reactions. Regulators are recommending that if you have a history of bad allergies, you should hold off on getting the shot.
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